The Expanding Workweek? Understanding Trends in Long Work Hours Among U.S. Men, 1979-2004

NBER Working Paper No. 11895Issued in December 2005NBER Program(s): LSPE

According to Census and CPS data, the share of employed American men regularly working more than 48 hours per week is higher today than it was 25 years ago. Using CPS data from 1979 to 2006, we show that this increase was greatest among highly educated, highly-paid, and older men, was concentrated in the 1980s, and was largely confined to workers paid on a salaried basis. We rule out a number of possible explanations of these changes, including changes in measurement, composition effects, and internet-facilitated work from home. Among salaried men, increases in long work hours were greatest in detailed occupations and industries with larger increases in residual wage inequality and slowly-growing real compensation at 'standard' (40) hours.